This article examines the innovative past of the large-scale, single-mode open universities that follow the model of the UK Open University (UKOU), analyzes the main challenges which they are currently facing in the digital era, and concludes with highlighting leading prospects for their future operation. The establishment of the UKOU in 1969…

The research encapsulates the framework on potential contributions of OER practices for supporting the ICT competence for disabled adult learners in building equal opportunities within the society. The study underlined the developing OER policy and framework to focus on digital citizenship competency for disabled adult learners. OER practices can…

A considerable interest in using three-dimensional multi-user virtual worlds for different educational disciplines has been widely observed. Despite the potential benefits of this technology, many questions still remain open, as far as the design of appropriate activities in well-defined instructional design frameworks and their effectiveness on…

As the coauthor (with Susan Dean) of a formally for-profit and now open (i.e., free on the web) textbook, "Collaborative Statistics," this author has received many questions about open educational resources (OER), which can be summarized as follows: (1) What are OER?; (2) Why do you support, actively promote, and speak about OER?; (3) If a book is…

As another year draws to a close, the author reflects on the trends in play related to library technologies and attempts to anticipate their trajectory going forward. The library economy has not necessarily achieved full recovery from the recent downturn. Nevertheless, the author expects that investments in technology will expand next year. For…

Based on the large number of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the United States, their increasing interest in enterprise-wide software systems and their impact on the US economy, it is important to understand the determinants that can facilitate the successful implementation and assimilation of such technology into these firms' daily…

In these difficult economic times, everyone is on the lookout for savings. This author, an adult services librarian at New City Library in New York, has spent the last two years implementing small-scale open source and freeware replacements where proprietary or paper solutions once ruled. While none of these projects is individually revolutionary,…

Adult learning and open education have become key elements on the European Agenda. This paper presents the first results of a foresight activity that aims to contribute to an understanding of how "Opening up Education" can improve adult learning in Europe in the future. It argues that to open up adult learning two main challenges must be…

An important element of open educational resources (OER) is the permission to use the materials in new ways, including revising and remixing them. Prior research has shown that the revision and remix rates for OER are relatively low. In this study we examined the extent to which the openly licensed "Flat World Knowledge" textbooks were being…

This study explored innovative alternative processes of living, learning, and knowledge sharing of a loosely knit community of anarchist, anticapitalist "Do-It-Yourself" (DIY) activists. Generated through participant observation and interviews, findings reinforced adult education theories--that adults can diagnose their own learning…

The research project is a case study focussing on the use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) implemented to increase the use of information and communication technology (ICT) by university teachers in Jazan University, Saudi Arabia. The study aims to investigate the effect of the VLE as the vehicle for a training course in ICT designed to…

The open educational resource (OER) movement has reached a critical mass due to recent technology advancements. In Taiwan, to overcome the language barrier, the Opensource Opencourse Prototype System (OOPS) plays a significant role in enabling Chinese-speaking users to benefit from this global education movement. However, our understanding about…

Purpose: This paper aims to report on an externally-funded project and forms part of its dissemination. Design/methodology/approach: The objectives are achieved through a theoretical framing of the project and an alignment of these with the contexts for the project--namely the Professional Standards Framework of the HEA, its use in postgraduate…

Developing online teaching skills can occur through involvement in learn-by-doing strategies, which incorporates informal, organic or need-driven strategies. Such processes are sometimes labeled as "bottom-up" staff development processes. In other contexts, teaching staff are formally directed to develop online teaching skills through a…

Providing learners with control over their learning does not always result in improved learning. For instance, research on tool-use in computer-based learning environments has demonstrated that tool-use behavior of learners is often suboptimal and does not fully support learning. Advice, or guided instruction, has been recognized as an…